JEREMY
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Episode 9
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Jeremy’s people received “the list” during our introduction, and after looking through it, regardless of how pricey some may have felt it was, they just smiled and nodded to the fact that nothing “there” was out of their price range.
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“She is worth more than any price tag,” Jeremy said in a loud voice that was audible to everyone in the room. At the sound of this, everyone laughed. Jeremy used a variety of flattering phrases, but those words ranked highest for me. I was beaming from ear to ear.
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I could tell that all of my female friends and coworkers in attendance were envious of me.
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One time, there was a rumor that my friends—the ones who had known about Jeremy and me from the beginning—had even gambled against my relationship with Jeremy. Unbelievably, these females believed that Jeremy and I would eventually break up. They claimed that a man who is too possessive of a woman, who is frequently all up in her business and accuses her directly of cheating on him, is either a cheat and, as a result, paranoid, projecting his infidelity onto his partner, or he is a complete narcissist.
These “alleged” friends of mine had bet that I would eventually leave Jeremy because of his toxic behavior in my situation with him. Some had even hoped that I would catch Jeremy with another woman. That way, the chances of getting back together would be lower than if we’d just separated for other reasons.
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In light of this, you can see how I am aware of my surroundings.
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I’m not sure where they got the impression that Jeremy’s overprotective demeanor made me sad or uneasy. I didn’t understand what made these “Olofofos” think that I wasn’t enjoying the attention that came with Jeremy always wanting to be in the know about everything I did, where I was, who I was with, and the activities that went along with our socializing.
Even though these actions by Jeremy eventually turned into a problem, what business is it of theirs?
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No one was happier than me to flaunt the lovely development of my relationship with Jeremy.
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To experience the love that was present during our introduction, you had to be present. We appeared to be a perfect pair, Jeremy and I. We resembled Romeo and Juliet in contemporary dress (in my case, I certainly looked like the advanced version of that Juliet).
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I looked better than I ever had.
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The way my silken, heavily split gray gown fit on my body made me stand out among the other girls who had come ready to impress. I arrived in elegance because it was my day.
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To eat and drink, there was more than enough.
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Too much alcohol was consumed, which is why my aunty had to overhear these two very intoxicated women discussing something she (my aunt) had found quite interesting about Jeremy and his family and had brought to my mom’s attention.
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Apparently, Jeremy was not just an only son; he was also a prince, the heir apparent to a throne we had never heard of, and the only male child of a recent generation.
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I still have trouble understanding how Jeremy and his family were able to keep anything like that hidden from my family and me.
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And No! Jeremy wasn’t trying to see if I was only interested in his wealth or prestige, as the majority of these Hollywood films lead us to assume the rich find true love. We had been dating for four years before he finally asked me to marry him. Jeremy couldn’t have been testing me for that long. That kind of patience is impossible.
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My aunt overheard more than just that, though.
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In reality, if the facts revealed by those two inebriated women at my introduction had stopped right then, rather than being all dramatic like these same Nollywood movies would have portrayed the lady involved to be, the situation would have been the opposite with me. I would have accepted this as “a plus” to the baggage that comes with being with Jeremy rather than arguing with him and being all upset and frustrated about being stringed along for so long and not being informed of something this crucial.
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Looking back, I wish those women had just stopped here.
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At this point, I wish my aunt had simply gotten up and left. But she didn’t, leaving me and us in the situation we are in now.
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Moshood Avidiime The Writer
